One Step at a Time
by meganechan720
Summary: Mike missed his brother. Ever since Leo had gone, Donatello just hadn't been the same. And while Mike missed Leo too, he knew he'd be home in five months. He had no idea when Donnie would come back. He suspected never. Sequel to Baby Steps.
1. mike had lost his best friend

_I've read so many fics where the author throws Donatello (and sometimes Mikey) a huge pity party for all the crud he had to deal with during Leo's absence. Leo is almost always the bad guy in these fics, with Splinter as a close second. I wanted to turn that around. I also wanted to give Mikey and Donnie their own rooftop fight. They need love too!_

_Also also, I know I said at the end of Baby Steps that the sequel would deal with Splinter, and I tried. But I can't make Splinter the bad guy, I just can't! Not even a little bit! Besides, as I watched the movie again, I realized that, after Leo (who I've made my peace with), Donnie is the one I have the most problems with. I am not one who combines the 2003 cartoon with the 2007 movie continuity. I feel it follows the live action movies, and if that's so, then what the heck happened to Donnie? He used to be as big a goofball as Mikey. I wanted to explore that (abrupt and unexplained) change.

* * *

_

**One Step at a Time  
**

"Mikey…" Leo began, unsure of how to phrase it. His younger brother looked up from the stack of fliers he was holding, his inquisitive expression barely visible under the deep hood of the sweatshirt he wore. "Why do you let him talk to you that way? Donnie, I mean."

Mike's expression turned to something understanding and almost patient, and he turned back to the telephone pole he was standing in front of, slapping up a flier and stapling it on in one practiced movement.

Leo was referencing Donatello's parting words to Mikey before leaving that evening, which had been extremely condescending and, Leo was sorry to say, extremely typical of the way Donnie spoke to Mikey these days. That had been one of the many shocks he'd had upon coming home, and while it had been swallowed up in the crisis with Winters, lately he'd been increasingly aware of and troubled by the new relationship between these two brothers. Gone were the days of sharing pork rinds in the kitchen while he and Raph fought, cracking jokes and being silly. Lately, especially with him and Raph at that stage of forgiveness where they were walking on tiptoe around each other, Don and Mike were more likely to being fighting each other. It made him sad, and a little sick, and the worst part of it was, Mikey didn't even seem to be that upset at the way things were. They had gotten marginally better now that the business side of Cowabunga Carl was in Mikey's surprisingly capable hands, but there seemed to be no sign that things were returning to normal between those two, or that they ever would.

"You gotta understand, bro, I've forgiven you and everything, so I'm not mad at you anymore." They moved on to the next telephone pole. "But things really went to pot when you were gone. It was like we were the Fantastic Four without Reed Richards. It just didn't work. And Donnie was like Sue Storm trying to deal with the Thing _and_ the Human Torch all by herself. And you can _imagine_—" Mikey stopped as he realized that, in fact, Leonardo could _not_ imagine. He gave him a sheepish grin, slapping up another flier. "Well, anyway, me and Raph, we didn't exactly step up, you know. So Donnie had to kind of take your place. I mean, Raph would lead us in fights well enough, but he didn't really know how to do the other stuff you do, the little stuff, at home. You know."

Leo hadn't known Mikey even noticed the little things he did. He'd barely been aware of them himself. It was just part of being a big brother. They crossed the street and made their way to the van a few blocks away.

"And then sensei started getting on his case for not keeping us in line, and it was like he just, I dunno, imploded or something. Especially after sensei said we couldn't fight anymore. He just…" Mike gave him a serious look. "I think he tried to be you. And, and he just couldn't. Especially with Raph. Raph never took him seriously, and so the only one he could keep in line was me. So, you know, I let him. I kinda missed having a big brother to boss me around." He flashed Leo another sheepish grin, and climbed in the driver's side of the van. Leo opened the passenger side door, lost in thought, and tossed the extra fliers in the back.

"Okay, I can see that," he said slowly, gripping the dashboard in an instinctual attempt to keep himself from being too jostled by Mikey's driving. "But why does he keep doing it? And more importantly, why do you keep letting him?"

"I don't think he knows how to stop, bro," Mike said, shrugging. He swerved around a stopped taxi, the van briefly lifting onto two wheels. Leo choked down a reprimand. Not only was he trying not to do that anymore in general, it really wouldn't help his case right now. "And, I dunno, I think this is who Donnie is now. Jokester Donnie ain't coming back. So it's all up to me now."

The last sentence was said with a sort of bravado that Leo knew was supposed to make him think Mikey was being silly, but it was forced and didn't match his expression. It confirmed what Leo had suspected ever since that first night home: Mike had lost his best friend.


	2. he took his word for it

"Cowabunga Carl Party Services, cowabunga dude."

"Come on, Leo, show a little more enthusiasm!"

"This is embarrassing. I know I've heard Donnie say it worse. Isn't this good enough?"

"Not for the new, improved Cowabunga Carl! Now that I'm not in the suit (for which I am eternally grateful, bro) I've got big plans for this thing!"

Leo stood and stretched, looking down at the new fliers Mikey was designing.

"Not too big, I hope. Now that we know the Foot are back in action—"

"Aw, Leo, it's all ninja all the time with you. Don't you have any interests _besides_ training?"

"I do calligraphy," he said indignantly.

"Only because it helps with your sword work."

Leo scowled. It was true.

"I—" Nope. There was nothing. Mike grinned hugely.

"You don't, do you, dude!"

"Well, so what?" Leo said huffily, sitting back down on the couch and folding his arms across his chest. He was being a little silly, but the truth was he didn't see why he needed any other interests. "We're ninjas. We're supposed to focus on our training."

"Dude, you've got to broaden your horizons! Keep sticking with me, bro. We'll find you _something_ to do in your spare time."

Mikey had really stepped up, Leo thought, watching him continue to fiddle with designs. He was glad they had almost saved up enough to buy Mikey a copy of Photoshop; his artistic talents were wasted on colored pencils and printer paper. He had turned the occasional party gig thing into a real business, showing a surprising talent for business management.

"I can't believe Donnie's actually _charging_ us to use his scanner."

"Dude, I can." Mike stuck a pencil in his mouth, squinting at the page, and then made one more careful stroke. "He's mad he's not getting a cut of the money anymore."

"Why does he need it? He has his own job."

Mikey pinned him with an astute stare.

"Dude, didn't you wonder where that giant tablet PC came from? You don't buy something like that on a tech support salary."

Leo sat up.

"You mean he was taking your money to buy his _toys_? He told me we owed April a lot of money."

"Well, we did, dude. That was after the _toy_." He snickered, seemingly delighted at Leo's choice of words. But now Leo was angry. He'd been regaled with enough stories about Donnie the slave driver to know that Mike's cut of his own paycheck had been rather small. But he'd trusted his brother to have been confiscating the money for a good cause. Mike seemed to notice Leo's disgruntlement.

"Dude, just forget it, okay?"

"What? Mikey, there's no way he needed something that expensive! And he used _your_ money to buy it!"

"Whoa, whoa, down boy. I _let_ him take his cut, okay? We made an agreement, and we stuck to it. He didn't do anything wrong."

Leo was still seething, though, and he got up, pacing. Mikey watched him, pencils forgotten.

"Leo… it's okay. Don't worry about it. It's in the past."

Being lectured by Mikey was a new experience for him. He let out one last breath and gave his brother a smile.

"You're right. I shouldn't let it bother me."

"That's the spirit!" Mikey returned the grin. "Now, get back to work!"

"Yes, sir!" Leo said, saluting smartly, and sat back down, gathering up his sewing. The pants they had added to the costume had gotten ripped, and he was supposed to be repairing them. Earlier Raph had given him a look that he just knew was going to turn into a bout of teasing that might never end, so he had flung one of his needles and embedded it in the wall next to Raph's head. Raph was now in the garage, doing whatever it was he did in there lately. He'd muttered vague threats under his breath as he pulled the needle out, but it had buried half its length in solid brick, so he'd merely handed it back and left the room. Mikey had been extremely impressed.

But his mind wasn't on the sewing, and he jabbed his finger with the needle several times. Mikey said the blood would wash out. He took his word for it.


	3. leo hoped he wouldn't need it

"Mikey, why are you such an idiot?"

Michelangelo turned to his brother on the rooftop, eyes flashing, and thrust his head into Don's personal space.

"Why are _you_ such a tight-ass?"

They began scuffling on the rooftop, and Leonardo turned around in disbelief.

"Really, guys?" he said in a carrying whisper. "Right now?"

"Yup," Mikey grunted trying to get leverage on Donnie's arm, "right now."

Leo threw up his hands.

"All right, _fine_. Raph, do you want babysitting duty, or is it my turn to watch the kids?"

Raph chuckled.

"Leave 'em to it, Leo. This has been a long time coming. We can handle these guys on our own." When Leo hesitated, he put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, just you and me." When that didn't work, he played along with Leo's earlier joke, speaking in a high-pitched voice. "We never go out anymore. Don't you love me?"

"Ugh," Leo said, shoving his brother away, the corners of his mouth turning up. "You ever use that voice again and I'll—"

"Ooh, I'm so scared." They bounded away, leaving their siblings with more than a few backward glances on both parts.

"All right, what is your problem?" Don demanded, disentangling himself from his brother at last and standing up to face him. Mike stood as well, his face hard and serious. "What is this about?"

"This is about you, Donnie. You haven't been yourself since Leo left, and I can understand that, really, I can. But that's no excuse for you to act like this."

"Like what? Like a grown up?"

"That's the thing, Don. You _don't_ act like a grown up. You act like some poorly drawn caricature of a grown up."

"Ooh," his brother mocked. "I didn't know you knew such big words, Mikey."

"And that's another thing!" Mike exclaimed, fists and teeth clenching. "You _say_ you want me to grow up, but when I try to act mature, you jump down my throat for it. At least pick one, bro!"

"Fine. I pick you growing up. It's about time you joined us in the land of the mature."

"No, Donnie. I'm not going to march to your tune. This is who I am. It's not like I'm hanging out in preschool because I'm afraid of growing up. I'm like this because you guys _need_ me to be."

Donnie laughed, a long cruel sound that made Mike's toes curl in distaste.

"Are you even _listening_ to yourself? You're saying you're our official comedy relief? Come on, Mikey. You need to grow up and figure out what you're doing with your life."

"I _have_ figured out what I'm doing with my life, Donnie. That's what you're not getting! What do you think life would be like without me there making jokes, huh? You used to _get_ that. You used to laugh _with_ me. But you've forgotten what it's like not to be half a person!"

Don charged, snarling. Mike was ready for him.

* * *

"Do you think they'll work things out?" Leo wondered aloud.

"For cryin' out loud, Leo. Can't this wait?" Raph grunted, as he plunged the hilt of his sai into a fat one's gut.

"I just… do you think we would have worked things out, if the whole Winters thing hadn't happened?" Leo swung his sword around, frowning pensively.

"…the hell?" Raph grunted again.

"Well, after you ran off, I was thinking… 'I should go after him.' But I knew I wouldn't. And who knows what might have happened." He said this while jumping up and grabbing onto a pipe, the better to kick a tall one in the head.

Raph gave that as much brain space as he could to think it over. The rest of his brain was taken up with flipping a gun out of the leader's hands and then knocking him out.

"I dunno Leo. It worked out, and that's all that matters. But look at it this way: Mikey and Donnie aren't like us. They don't hold grudges." He elbowed a runner in the face, dropping him like a sack of rocks. Leo picked up one guy by the scruff of his neck and flung him across the room, expertly nailing his head right on the edge of a chair where it would give him the mother of all black eyes.

"I guess you're right. Hey, is that all of them?" They surveyed the store. Nothing moved, and there was no sound save for the groans of unconscious criminals and the whine of refrigeration units.

"I think so. Should we tie 'em up?"

"Nah, I think I hear sirens. The police can deal with them. Let's go check on Don and Mike."

"Yes, mother," Raph said, rolling his eyes.

* * *

They made it up to the rooftop in time to see Mikey hook his nunchaku around Donnie's bo and yank it out of his hands, and then, before he could react, shove his brother up against the wall and pin him by his neck, the chain biting into the soft skin.

"Why can't you take me seriously?" he screamed, sounding like he was either near tears or near madness, it was hard to tell which.

"You're a joke, Mikey," Donnie choked out, sneering at his brother. "Isn't that what you wanted? I'm only treating you how you asked to be treated."

Mike shoved the chain hard against his brother once, and then backed off, teeth bared.

"Fine," he roared, his voice raw and rough. "Fine." And he ran.

Leo and Raph looked at each other.

"I'll… I'll take Mikey," Leo said eventually. Raph nodded.

"Good luck," he said to Leo's shell. Leo hoped he wouldn't need it.


	4. donnie's steps did not falter

_Mitsu is a character from the third live action movie, Turtles in Time. Mike had a huge crush on her, and when they had to go back to the present, he was so forlorn he declared to Splinter, "I'll never laugh again." What you read below is actually what Splinter did in response to that.

* * *

_

"I thought a lot about what you said," Mike told him as he approached. He slowed his pace, and then sat down beside him. "About… everything. About Donnie treating me like he does. And about… how he used to be. And I thought, maybe I was wrong. Maybe he _can_ come back. But…"

"Mikey, something tells me beating him up isn't the best way to go about getting his sense of humor back," Leo said dryly. Mike snorted softly.

"Back when… when I had to leave Mitsu, I really thought my sense of humor was gone. I know you guys think I was being melodramatic, but it's true. It was like someone had cut it out of me. I really didn't think anything would be funny, ever again. And then," he chuckled wetly, and Leo was aware of tears that weren't being shed, "then sensei put that lampshade on his head, and it wasn't even that funny, except it was, and I laughed. And then, after that, I found another thing to laugh at, and another, and then eventually, it was like I got my sense of humor back. And I just," he said, sighing, "don't know how to do that for Donnie."

Leo was silent for a moment.

"You could try the lampshade," he said. Mike gave him a scornful look that was nonetheless tinged with amusement. He sighed as well. "Mike, I think you might have been right. This is who Donnie is now. And that doesn't mean you can't try to help him get a sense of humor (boy does he need one) but I don't think…" He didn't want to say it. "I don't think the old Donnie is coming back."

Michelangelo was silent for so long Leo was afraid he'd said the wrong thing.

"Do _you_ think I'm being childish?" he asked eventually, his voice small. "That's what Donnie said. That I should grow up. Do you… do you think…"

Leo flung an arm around his brother's shoulders.

"Mikey, you're the only one of us who has managed to live through the things we've lived through without getting hardened and jaded. I think that's amazing. And I wouldn't change it for anything. Even if I can't be like that, it's nice to know you can. No, it's essential. It might be unfair to you, but the day you become as jaded as the rest of us will be a sad day for me."

Mikey nudged him playfully, and Leo could see his smile.

* * *

Raph hated this stuff. Donnie was rubbing his throat absently as he crawled forward for his staff. Raph knew he could easily pick it up and hand it to his brother, and that might count for something, but this situation needed more. He just didn't know what the heck that was.

"I'm sure Mike don't really hate you," he said. Where had that come from? And it was clearly not the right thing, because as Donnie stood with the help of his staff he gave him a dark look.

"He never said he hated me," he told him. Raph blinked.

"Oh. Well, then he doesn't." Don rolled his eyes and moved to walk away. "He does miss you, though."

Don stopped.

"What does that mean?"

Raph was asking himself that same question. He thought about it, and then realized his mouth had been right.

"When Leo left, and you tried to be him, well… it was like you left too. And Leo came back but… you didn't."

And that still didn't seem to be the right thing to say because Donnie was looking at him downright angrily now.

"You mean the sacrifices I had to make to keep this family intact? Is that what you're referring to? Because correct me if I'm wrong, but I didn't exactly notice you and Mikey stepping up to help fill the gap."

Raph flung his hands in the air.

"You know, maybe the ones who needed Leo's trip were _us_. Because it's freaking pathetic that we apparently _can't_ handle ourselves while he's not here."

"Don't talk to me that way, Raph. I had just about enough of that when Leo was gone. I don't need it now that he's back."

"That's just it, Don._ Leo's back._ You don't have to pretend to be him anymore."

Don jabbed his bo into Raph's chest.

"I am _not_ pretending to be _him_. This is who I am now, and if you guys can't handle that, then fine. I'll just hole myself up in the lab and you can have all the fun you want without me."

"But it _won't_ be fun without you Don." And now Raph knew he'd lost it, because something that sappy should never come out of his mouth. Don looked at him, confusion warring with concern on his face. Raph waved him off. "Least, that's the way Mikey sees it," he said, thinking, _nice save_.

"Mikey needs to grow up," Don muttered, and Raph turned back to him.

"Does he really? Do you _really_ want some mature version of Mike walking around? Because I sure don't. That sounds," he shuddered, only partly for effect, "creepy."

"Do _you_ really want Mike to act like a child for the rest of his life?"

Raph stared at his brother, really looked at him. There were deep circles under his eyes that his mask couldn't hide, and he looked exhausted.

"Mikey doesn't act like a child. Not all the time. Not when it's important. That," he jabbed a hand at the wall where until recently Donnie had been pinned, "that seem childish to you?"

Don was silent. Raph went on, trying desperately to throw out as many words as he could, hoping at least one would hit the target.

"We need Mikey being funny, Donnie. Leo's Mister Trained Master, I'm on a short fuse, and you… well, anyway, we need to laugh. We need Mikey there taking our minds off stuff." Don groaned, turning away.

"Not you too." His posture sagged. "Mike was saying the same thing, but do none of you see how idiotic that is? We're a team of _ninjas_, Raph. We need a class clown like we need a hole in the head."

"We're also _brothers_, Donnie, or have you forgotten that? And right now you are being nothing but a jerkwad to your brother."

"I'm a jerkwad, huh?" Don muttered. "Come on Raph, tell me how you really feel."

"I just tell it like it is, Don."

"Is that what you call it? Because I call it assholery."

"That's not a word!"

Donnie made a noise like he was giving up on the whole world and turned to go. Raph cursed his big mouth. But then he thought of something and decided to let it spill one more thing.

"We… we _all_ miss you, bro."

Donnie's steps did not falter, and Raph wasn't sure he'd heard him.


	5. one step at a time

"Knock knock."

Mike looked up into the slightly worried face of Donatello.

"Who's there," he said dutifully, after a slight pause.

"I'm sorry."

Mike's face softened, and he moved to embrace his brother, but Don moved out of the way.

"No, come on, Mikey. You know how this is supposed to go. Say 'I'm sorry who?'"

Mike rolled his eyes, but did as he was told.

"I'm sorry who?"

Don jerked back like he'd been hit with an imaginary weapon, and then continued in fake death throes until he was prone on the floor twitching. Mike feared for his brother's sanity.

"Don?" he queried worriedly. "Are you okay?"

And then Don snickered. And got up and went to his workstation. Leaving Mikey feeling very confused. He was even more confused when laughter, genuine laughter, rang out from Donnie's computer area.

"Mikey, come in here, you have to see this!"

Well, he never could pass up a must-see anything, though he was hoping what he saw would give him some clue as to what the shell was going on.

There, on the biggest monitor Donnie had, was his own face, looking worried and a little weirded out. Donnie was sitting in his computer chair, giggling helplessly.

"I was thinking… you should've seen your face… and then I thought… you can!"

He doubled over with laughter. Mike felt the corners of his mouth lift in response.

"Since when do you have cameras in the lair?"

"Since always," he brother said, sobering slightly.

"You know what this means, bro," Mike said, clapping a hand on Don's shoulder. "Serious prankage time."

Don grinned back, and while Mikey didn't delude himself into thinking things would go back to the way they were before, he did allow himself the hope that they might be become something new, maybe even something… better. He'd take it one step at a time.


End file.
